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2 Examples:
Example #1: Control Of Processing.
for each type of processing, a large % of the market share is controlled by just 4 firms:
72% of beef slaughter by:
IBP, ConAgra, Cargill, Farmland
71% of flour milling by:
ConAgra, ADM, Cargill, General Mills
76% of soybean crushing by:
ADM, Cargill, Bunge, Ag processors
74% of wet corn milling by:
ADM, Cargill, Tate & Lyle, CPC
57% of dry corn milling by:
Bunge, IL Cereal Mills, ADM, ConAgra (Lincoln)
Example #2: Vertical Integration in Agriculture
a single corporation controls many levels of production, such as:
~Inputs (for example, corn seed, fertilizers, machinery)
~Storage (of grain, livestock, produce)
~Food Processing (for example, making grain into Corn Flakes or livestock feed)
~Marketing and Sales (advertising & selling the Corn Flakes, for example)
~Wholesale Activities (for example, distributing the Corn Flakes or animal feed)
~Transportation (moving grain or the processed products)
- The corporation Philip Morris:
- owns: General Foods, Kraft, Miller Beer, Marlboro, LouisRich, Oscar Meyer, etc.
- approximately 10 0 of every $1 Americans spend on food goes to Philip Morris.
- The corporation ConAgra:
- is the largest agrichemical distributor in N. America
- also sells seeds
- owns grain elevators, rail cars, barges
- is the largest turkey/broiler pro-ducer
- also sells poultry feed, operates hatcheries
- and owns: Armour, Beatrice (Butterball, Eckrich, Hunt-Wesson) Banquet, Healthy Choice, La Choy, Peter Pan,
O Redenbacher, Swiss Miss, Ultra Slim Fast, etc.
For more information
Heffernan, W. 1994. Agricultural Profits: Who Gets Them Now, and Who Will in the Future? Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Sustainable Agriculture: People, Products, and Profits. Proceedings, Fourth Annual Conference. August 4. Pages 13-18.
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